Tips from a speech by an anonymous speaker, Ladies and gentlemen
When you are young, you tend to mess up with your hair by applying various types of oil and cream. If you do so, by the time you are 40, you will look 80.
Prices will always go up. Politicians will make promises and conveniently forget them when elected. You might remember that politicians were a noble lot when you were young. Your children will tell you the same story. Your parents will always tell you that children were more disciplined in the past. You children will tell the same story to their children.
Do not feel guilty if you do not know what you want to do with your life. Even some of those who are past 70 still do not know what they want to do with their lives.
Live happily
Most people get married, have children and live happily. Others do not get married, but they also live happily. Maybe you will divorce your spouse at 40, or you may dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, do not congratulate yourself or berate yourself too much.
Your choices are half chances, like everybody else’s. If you had written love letters before marriage, keep them in a safe place. However, throw away your old bank statements.
If you wish to have fun, fitness and a firmer figure, swing and sway to the increasingly popular beat of aerobic dancing. It involves vigorous jumping, kicking and bending to the beat of music. The benefits are comparable to those of jogging and swimming. That means you will be endowed with firmer muscles, stronger heart and extra energy. At the beginning only women took to aerobic dancing, but men are rapidly becoming attracted to the sport.
There are things which are better left unsaid. Recently, a man sitting next to me on the bus, looking at a hair removal advertisement in the magazine I was reading, said, “I don’t like the stubble that grows after my wife shaves.” I did not like the gratuitous confession and told him that I did not need to know that. He got off at the next halt.
If a country goes temporarily to the dogs, cats must learn to be circumspect. They can walk on fences, sleep in trees and have faith that all this woofing is not going to be the last word. Cats will have their day.
I have seen men and women losing their temper on various occasions. They should know that being angry can make their lungs weaker. When you are angry, you produce hormones to help your body prepare for a fight. They can cause cells in your bronchial tubes to inflame. The tubes then narrow and you will feel breathless.
If you feel tired after working continuously for several hours, your natural reaction is to have a coffee break. However, coffee will not relieve your fatigue or boredom. What you need is productive energy. You can get it from the Productive Effectiveness Program (PEP) which is a sweat-free, naturally flowing movement drawn from yoga.
The exercises, designed to be done in one minute each at your work, combine deep breathing to stimulate circulation and pump oxygen into your body. Taking such a health break instead of a coffee break will help you feel better, look better and work better.
Most people simply dream their dreams while others turn them into reality. To change your life, dare to do what you love. There is at least one thing in this world that makes your heart beat faster.
Sources of energy
Whenever, I walk into a bookshop, my heart begins to race. Books are sources of energy and joy in life and they connect to something central in us.
How many of you have a sense of humour? Research suggests that laughter increases the body’s level of endorphins. This can ease the pain and help improve resistance to disease. Laughter also enables you to gain new perspectives on your problems, especially if you can laugh at yourself!
If you are unable to go on a two-week holiday, you can take a ‘power nap’ which slows down your pulse and breathing rate, and reverse many of the natural stress responses in your body. Japanese workers usually take a power nap at work for a few minutes.
Recently I read about a 94-year-old woman reading for her Master’s degree. Who says it is too late to learn? Unfortunately, many of us are haunted by five dismal words: “But it’s too late now.” I say to such people “Nonsense.” It is never too late to redeem past mistakes, never too late to make a fresh start.
As you age, you get all types of chronic pain. On such occasions, you will swallow a pill or apply some balm on the affected area. Today, many leading chronic pain clinics in developed countries are encouraging patients to cope with pain using drug-free therapies.
Treatments once considered offbeat, such as biofeedback and meditation, offer new hope to the millions of people who suffer pain so debilitating that it disrupts their lives. Biofeedback uses electronic feedback to teach patients how to control those physical processes. On the other hand, Mindfulness Meditation helps patients become aware of their thoughts and the effects of those thoughts on their lives.
Whatever therapies you try, remember that you are the expert on your own body. If a treatment feels right, look into it. If it sounds wrong, steer clear. Whenever you consult a doctor, he will prescribe certain vitamins.
According to research, we stand on the threshold of a new age in which supplements and careful selection of food may not only make up a body’s deficiencies but perhaps help us all to new optimal levels of health. Be wary of health quacks who recommend extra vitamins.
If you have a daughter who does not clean up her room, pin the following poem, written by Charlene F. Williams, on the door:
Note from Mom
Daughter of the universe,
Child of the atom age,
Goddess of Aquarius,
Dancer on the stage,
Daffodil or buttercup,
Chaser of a dream,
May I ask one thing of you,
Before I have to scream?
Gymnast, jumper, acrobat,
Gazer on the moon,
Would you mind so terribly
To please clean up your room?
